December 2004 Archives

Jumping into the pool where I spent the winters of high school brings back all sorts of memories. The most immediate was how cold they keep the pool. I doubt it was over 75°. There is no need to discuss shrinkage at this point. It was a given. I fought through it and warmed up between talking trash to other alumni and varsity swimmers that I coached when they were six years old.

The 200 free is the second event of the meet and I was in the wall lane of the first heat. (Joy!) I really had no idea what would happen in this race. Most of my mental preparation was for the 500 to come later. I had thought based on my training thus far that 2:20 would be a good goal time. But in all honesty, I knew that I would be faster than that, more like 2:13 or so. On the start my sprint instincts took over and I went out a bit strong with my legs, which would come back to bite me at the end of the race. I ended up splitting 28.66/31.56/32.07/32.48 for a 2:04.77. (1:00.22/1:04.55) Way faster than I expected. It was then I started to think I might've gone too fast to have anything left for the 500.

There's a break in the meet, so I got warm-up and stretch out in the pool before the 500, which was a good thing. The muscles were lactating pretty severely and I hydrated as much as possible. I was in lane 2 for the first heat of the 500 against some pretty serious competition. My sister was counting for me, and double checked how she would convey my pace with the count board. She eventually forgot. Many spectators were amused that I was behind the blocks for the 500. The official (a parent of a best friend) said it was a special Christmas present for him. The goal was to break 6:00; definitely attainable, as I did a 6:06 from a push three days prior. Again the sprint instincts took over for the first 50 and I kicked. Stupid! Not good. With my sister forgetting where to put the counter (left was faster than 6:00 pace, to the right was slower) I really didn't know where I was. The varsity swimmers were gone after the first 50, and were gaining, nearly lapping me. That's not good for my psyche.

The mind is a fickle thing. Throughout the race, I reminded myself to "keep my stroke as long as possible," but that was quickly replaced by "keep your stroke above water." The lactic acid was really kicking in at this point, and I could feel my body begin to falter. I don't know how it looked above water. I finished last in my heat with a 5:47.98.

Overall, a success, but it reveals that I need to stay consistent with my training and keep working to build the stamina necessary for next year's IMoo.

There's less than a week until the Alumni Meet next Wednesday. I've already declared my desire to swim the 200 & 500 yard freestyle events, something I never would've done in high school. I actually swam the 200 & 500 in the year I swam in New York, mainly because my stroke got longer.

I'm getting excited to swim. I was really excited until I heard that the JMM team is a force to be reckoned with. Even the JV will be crushing my PR in the 500. (5:09) I may lose, and lose big, but there's the personal goals that really matter.

In the 200, the goal is to have a strong finish. I'm not too concerned with my time; under 2:20 is nice. The 500 is what I'm worried about. All along, the magic time is to break 6:00. Today, I swam a 6:07 from a wall with a relatively slow first 100. Based on that, I think the six-minute barrier can be broken, it's a question of how much? We'll just have to wait and see.

My weight's holding at ~183, keeping me at 30 pounds down. (Awesome!) I've been solely swimming the past two weeks, and will ramp everything back up in the new year, plotting out my race and training schedule until Race Day.

I hit the thirty pound mark this morning. Thirty pounds lost. Gone. Hasta la bye-bye. I think it's for real because I didn't work out yesterday, and drank plenty of water to maintain proper hydration levels. I've been on a steady decline all week. It's surprising, really. After about two months on South Beach, I stopped really worrying about carbs, and started eating lots of things. But, I was still conscious of what I was eating. I reintroduced healthy carbs; Whole grain in stead of white breads...diet vs. regular soda...whole grain cereal vs frosted flakes...rum & cokes vs. beer...more water and on and on. All contribute to weight loss and a healthier heart. I didn't expect to continue losing weight, and didn't for the longest time. Like any geek, I've kept a running log of the weight loss. (The green is phase one of South Beach, which lasted three weeks, instead of the standard two.) It shows that I really hit the bottom at about 186, and bounced around there for a while.

But today it really hit me. I've lost thirty pounds. That means I was thirty pounds heavier. Fifteen percent of what I was is no more. I was carrying a small child in my belly. It's no wonder why basketball was so much easier. (OK, it's not easy to play, but it was easy for me to run up and down the court.) It's especially satisfying to see hints of my fabled six- pack returning, as well as some sort of semblance of the grail-like triangle the ladies adore. I can't tell you why I finally started to drop, but let.s hope it keeps going.

A new season is upon the defending MSCR Coast league Basketball champions. I was anxious to see how the new body would work. Previously, I would huff & puff up and down the court, needing a sub every five minutes. Last night, I was able to play the entire time, resting only to let others play. And we played full-court ball for the entire hour and a half.

Who knew that losing the weight equivalent to a small child would make such a difference?

Although I haven't posted a workout update in nearly a month, I have been working out. I've been keeping track of everything in what's getting to be an extensive spreadsheet. I've even been able to fool around with pivot tables charts, an Excel tool that I've never been able to figure out to work successfully. I made a chart for your viewing pleasure (PDF). It shows the percentage of each type of workout I've completed in each week thus far. Note how I've tapered from the bike and increased workouts in the pool over the past few weeks. The Alumni Meet is less than three weeks away, and I need to be as ready as possible.

And things are progressively getting better in the pool. Today, I started off a set of 100s (four lengths) with a 1:08, a time I struggled to make a few weeks ago. By the end, I hit 1:02 on my last two. I was quite pleased. All this after two nights of holiday parties, and the resulting dehydration. As my skin tingled after each swim, I decided that I'm going to try to avoid the alcohol and hit the water hard for these next few weeks until the meet. The winter dryness doesn't help, either.

In case you're in town over the holiday break, the meet is December 22, at 5:30 at JMM.